Professional Development Workshops

We offer a variety of outstanding professional development workshops. Dynamic CHARACTER COUNTS! trainers deliver each of the following interactive professional development workshops in person or online.

In addition to offering workshops customized to your school or organization, we offer workshops that are open to individuals and small groups.

For more information or to receive a quote, contact us at customerservice@charactercounts.org, 515-271-1910, or submit an online training request.

January 23, 2025 – An Introduction to CHARACTER COUNTS!

Join us January 23 from 10am – 1pm (CST) for an online Introduction to CHARACTER COUNTS! workshop.

Our team of professional educators will teach you the basic principles of CHARACTER COUNTS! and how to:

teach, enforce, advocate, and model good character.
define what the Six Pillars of Character look like in your classroom, school, or organization.
implement the best practices of our new Kindness101.com videos and lessons.
create a school or organizational culture that promotes positive relationships, connection, and sense of belonging.

You’ll also receive an implementation planning guide and free resources to help you get started.

A Huge Hit!

The training was a huge hit! The mood in the room both days was very upbeat which is always a good sign. Gary [CC! trainer] was a very dynamic speaker. The participants had positive things to say about the training experience and the CHARACTER COUNTS! program. Today is our third day of school and I´ve heard several teachers talking to their kids about the Six Pillar Values. This training experience was well worth the time and the cost!

Laura

Director, La Sierra International School
Colombia

Foundational Workshops

Introduction to CHARACTER COUNTS!

This workshop focuses on the basic principles of CHARACTER COUNTS! and how to:

- teach, enforce, advocate, and model good character.
- define what the Six Pillars of Character look like in your classroom, school, or organization.
- create a school or organizational culture that promotes positive relationships, connection, and sense of belonging.

Best for: Educators and administrators who want to learn the basics.

Length: Half-day plus a one-hour follow-up via phone/video call.

Six Pillar Culture Fundamentals

Learn the fundamentals of CHARACTER COUNTS! and engage in hands-on activities that can be transferred into your classroom, school, or organization.

This workshop focuses on how to:

teach, enforce, advocate, and model good character.
define what the Six Pillars of Character look like in your classroom, school, or organization.
create a school or organizational culture that promotes positive relationships, connection, and sense of belonging.

Plus, we’ll discuss how to implement our research-based instructional strategies.

Best for: educators and administrators who are ready to implement CC! school or district-wide

Length: 1 Day

Implementing a Six Pillar Culture

In addition to teaching CHARACTER COUNTS! fundamentals and best teaching practices, our team will help participants create a customized implementation plan.

This workshop focuses on how to:

teach, enforce, advocate, and model good character.
define what the Six Pillars of Character look like in your classroom, school, or organization.
create a school or organizational culture that promotes positive relationships, connection, and sense of belonging.

Plus, participants will

practice creating lesson plans and activities, and
create a plan to implement CC! at their school/organization.

Best for: educators and administrators who are ready to implement CC! school or district-wide

Length: 2 Days

Becoming a Character Champion

Character Champion Workshop offers a comprehensive, theoretical exploration of CHARACTER COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character.

Participants will be introduced to:

the Six Pillars of Character,
our TEAM approach to character education,
the Four Keys method to help students achieve their potential,
key and lock beliefs,
best teaching practices, and
how to engage other staff in shaping a Six Pillar culture.

Participants will also craft an implementation plan to share with others in their building or district.

Best for: Faculty/staff that will be responsible for teaching CHARACTER COUNTS! to other team members.

Length: 2 Days

Six Pillar Orientation

This workshop is for schools that have been using the CHARACTER COUNTS! framework, but would like to orient new staff to the program. It can also serve as a refresher for existing staff. This session is customizable to incorporate any existing processes and best practices currently used at your school. Participants will learn what CHARACTER COUNTS! is, why character development and culture shaping matter, and how they can Teach, Enforce, Advocate, and Model the Six Pillars of Character.

The one-day session will also explore teaching best practices, and help participants understand their role in implementing CHARACTER COUNTS!

Best for: New faculty and staff

Length: Half Day or 1 Day

Workshops to Extend Your Initiative

CHARACTER COUNTS! in Early Childhood

Designed for early childhood educators, this workshop explores the skills needed to enhance the social and emotional growth of the early childhood classroom. Early childhood educators will walk away with tools and strategies to implement a high-quality character development initiative for young children. These resources are easily integrated into the social and emotional curriculum of the early childhood classroom.

At least one Early Childhood kit must be purchased for this training, as the resources contained in the kit will supplement the training. Early Childhood kits may be purchased for $199 per kit.

Best for: Early childhood educators

Length: Half-day or full day

Increasing Family Participation

Families are a child’s first and most important character educators. It is important for schools to work more collaboratively with families in raising children.

Staff Workshop
This workshop will give educators tools to gain family support towards the school’s efforts to promote good character. It will also include successful engagement activities and strategies on how to deal with challenging parents.

Family Workshop
This workshop focuses on increasing positive family engagement in the education of their children. The workshop equips families with tools and strategies to use at home to support the school’s CC! efforts. Families will learn how to encourage and model the Six Pillars of Character at home, especially in challenging situations. If requested, the parent sessions may also address managing the behaviors of at-risk youth.

Best for: Families and educators

Length: Two hours or half-day

Pursuing Victory With Honor

Athletics and activities provide an exceptional opportunity to teach students character skills and practice those character skills in a meaningful way.

Character skills like work ethic, teamwork, leadership, and integrity contribute to the short-term success of the athlete and team and the long-term development and success of the individual.

In this workshop, participants will learn strategies to coach the Six Pillars in athletics and activities by turning values into behaviors, as well as develop implementation plans to Teach, Encourage, Advocate, and Model the Six Pillars of Character on their teams.

This workshop includes Pursuing Victory With Honor Playbook resources at no additional cost.

Best for: Coaches and athletic directors

Length: Half-day or full day

Community Coalition

A community’s culture shapes the character and behavior of the individuals living in that community. Communities should work to create their community’s culture with intentionality.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to create a CHARACTER COUNTS! Community Coalition to help build a community that reflects the Six Pillars of Character.

Participants will learn:

how to create a CHARACTER COUNTS! Community Coalition,
strategies to shape the culture of the community,
how to identify key organizations in the community that play a significant role in shaping the community, and
how to create a CC! Community Coalition implementation plan designed to shape the culture of your community.

Best for: Community volunteers, school faculty and staff

Length: Two-hour or half-day

Special Topic Workshops

Addressing Behavior and Learning Challenges

This workshop provides an overview of current research and best practices to recognize symptoms and effectively assist students with various behavioral and learning challenges including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Anxiety Disorder (ASD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), and other emotional or behavioral challenges.

The workshop will demonstrate and teach the proper use of fidgets, a proven effective strategy to provide sensory input, assist with anxiety, concentration, and the ability to listen and self-soothe. Also, participants will learn proven Cognitive Behavioral Therapeutic methods to teach youth how to use positive self-talk and dispute cognitive distortions. Participants will also learn other vital relaxation skills such as deep breathing, positive mental imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation. Other components included are truancy training, including cultural competency and socioeconomic awareness, and diversity.

Best for: Faculty and staff who work with students with behavioral or learning challenges

Length: Two-hour or half-day

Civility in Your Community

A community culture built around the Six Pillars of Character can positively impact community members and encourage civility among citizens. If communities want to work together with civility, then they must promote civil behaviors like seeking to understand, win-win negotiation, and building connections. In this session, participants will learn strategies to shape a culture of civility in their community by demonstrating civility in their own lives and create a personalized civility plan to help guide their actions in challenging situations.

Participants will:

utilize tools and strategies to personally demonstrate civility and shape a culture of civility in the community,
identify key issues in the community that create conflict and incivility,
create a personalized civility plan to enhance your civility in challenging situations, and
discuss ways to model civility in order to positively impact the culture and climate of your community.

Length: Two-hour or half-day

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